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Okay boys & girls, it’s time for a bit of blatant self-promotion (because, you know, it’s not like I ever do that). I am please to announce that Myths & Legends of Tea, Volume 1 is now available in paperback! The eBooks (both Kindle version and Apple iBook) came out this summer, and now Proseyr Publishing is offering a 6×9 perfect-bound trade paperback edition for a paltry $8.99.

“How do I get my very own copy, Gary,” I hear you cry. Have no fear, Gentle Reader, for I have just the answer you’re looking for (and if you want wholesale information, keep reading)!

You can get a copy of Myths & Legends of Tea, Volume 1 at your favorite bookstore (either brick & mortar or online). Give them the book title and my name — or the magic number 978-0-9659609-5-3 — and they’ll have it to you in a flash.

Want an autographed copy? Not a problem! If you order from my tea shop, you have the option to buy the books plain, autographed, or personalized.

If you just want a regular autographed copy, select “Just signed, no personalization,” and choose how many you want. If you’d like a book personalized to you or a friend, select “Personalize to name(s) shown below,” and type in the name or names in the box below.

If you’re getting more than one personalized copy, you’ll have to add them to the shopping cart one at a time, filling in the options for each. In the picture above, Robert would be getting eight copies, all signed “to Robert” (Those must be for Robert Godden. One is just never enough for that guy). If you want copies signed to each of your friends, family members, and co-workers (you know you do!), fill it out for one of them and click “Add to Cart.” Then change the personalization and click it again. Lather, rinse, repeat.

Selling the book

If you want to sell the book in your shop, buying wholesale is easy! Most bookstores already have an account with Ingram, a giant book distributor with copies of Myths & Legends of Tea ready to ship out on a moment’s notice. For tea shops and gift shops, you’ll want to order directly from the publisher, Proseyr Publishing.

What’s inside?

What’s in the book? My post about the eBook listed the stories that are included, and I’ve already posted one of them free on this blog and there’s also a preview on Goodreads so you can get a feeling for the book. Here’s a peek at what the printed version of the book looks like — click on the pictures to see a larger version:

This is only an early working concept for the book cover. At this point, Myths and Legends of Tea is only a working title.

Most writers don’t like to talk about their work in process. I guess I’m not most writers, because I like to talk about pretty much everything. I do usually hold back, though, until I’m really sure the book is going somewhere. At this point, I’m far enough along that I’m ready to let the cat out of the bag.

UPDATE MAY 2015: Please see “Myths & Legends At Last” for release news on volume 1, including a story list, summaries, and final cover art.

As anyone who has visited my tea bar knows, I am as much in love with the stories of different tea styles as I am with the tea itself. Thus far, I have mostly told the tales as they were told to me — or as I found them in the course of reading about tea. Many of these wondrous stories are far too short. The poor farmer who cleaned up a temple and was given Tieguanyin oolong as his reward by the goddess. The mandarin who added bergamot oil to an English earl’s tea to compensate for the calcium in the water and created one of the western world’s most popular teas. The tea master who performed one last tea ceremony after he was ordered by his daimyo to commit seppuku.

In Myths & Legends of Tea, my goal is to create the Grimm’s Fairy Tales of tea.

I am taking each of these tales and retelling it in my own style, most of them somewhere between 2,000 and 3,000 words long. Each is accompanied by a profile of the tea featured in the story. Some of the stories are entirely legend, their origins lost in the mists of time. Some are based heavily on fact. Some will be familiar to any tea aficionado. Some are purely the product of my own imagination. In all of them, I am focusing on building a sense of the time, the setting, and the characters, and bringing the stories of tea to life.

I know what you’re thinking. At least I hope I know what you’re thinking. “When will I be able to buy this wondrous book?” (If that’s not what you’re thinking, please don’t tell me). If all goes according to plan, sometime in the autumn of 2013. I’ll keep you all up to date!

NOTE

Since I split off Tea With Gary from my writing blog in 2011, I have tried to keep the two separate. In this particular case, however, this post is both about my writing and about tea, so I am placing it on both blogs. Henceforth, I will place my updates about the book in my writing blog and specific tea stories here, although I’ll probably do some cross-linking. Oh, who am I kidding? I’ll do a lot of cross-linking, because that’s the way blogs roll!